PETA Wants Kate Middleton to Stop Prince William from Shooting Birds

Bird Hunting is a centuries old royal tradition, but the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, want Catherine Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, to put an end to it, and least on the part of her husband, Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge.

According to multiple reports, Prince William bought 250 pheasants, ducks, and partridges for a shoot at the Queen's Sandringham Estate to celebrate Prince Harry's 27th birthday. A letter, obtained by Fox411's Pop Tarts column, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk urged William's wife, Kate, to put a stop to it.

We understand that Prince William has given a gift of 'game birds' to Prince Harry for his birthday. There is no honour in buying birds and reducing them, as if they were clay pigeons, to shooting targets. Those who aren't killed outright are often dispatched by having their necks wrung, which does not cause an instant or painless death, Newkirk wrote to Her Royal Highness.

May I ask you to use your influence on the Princes and ask them to reconsider this gift? You are in a unique position to be able to wield considerable influence over whether people everywhere view animals and their place in the world with kindness or blithely ignore their suffering. Please ask the princes to open their hearts to the suffering of birds casually used as skeet and make the compassionate decision not to kill for fun. By cancelling the planned day's sport in favour of a more enlightened, fitting and humane pursuit, they will win hearts and commendations and spare hundreds of birds a terrifying end, making it clear that the monarchy is in tune with the social movement against cruelty to animals.

A representative for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge was unavailable to comment.